The Speargun Jenna Projecthttps://speargunjennaproject.wordpress.com
Stuff and ThingsMon, 19 Mar 2018 20:39:17 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngThe Speargun Jenna Projecthttps://speargunjennaproject.wordpress.com
One Down, Three to Gohttps://speargunjennaproject.wordpress.com/2017/08/15/one-down-three-to-go/
https://speargunjennaproject.wordpress.com/2017/08/15/one-down-three-to-go/#respondTue, 15 Aug 2017 02:42:27 +0000http://speargunjennaproject.wordpress.com/2017/08/15/one-down-three-to-go/So I’ve found a few downsides to the tablet. First is that the camera is shoddy and no, I’m not trying to be one of those obnoxious people who carry my tablet around to take pictures on of my vacations and experiences. It would’ve been nice to have a decent camera to take pictures of the in progress or finished crochet projects I have on the tablet so I could eliminate my phone as the middle man; however that doesn’t seem to be the case. The second is that I haven’t figured out how to do an auto-spellcheck with the keyboard plugged in, but that’s user error and not tablet error. All things considered though, I’m enjoying my Samsung talent and it’s inspiring me to be more active here, so yay?

Finished Hand Towel

To my immense relief I finished Ry’s requested hand towel this evening while we were watching some anime. I haven’t made a final opinion on if I like the anime yet, but Ry agreed to watch the dubbed version so I could crochet while we were watching.

Not quite sure what happened on the end there but whatever, it’s staying in the house.

I usually do enjoy anime, but Ry prefers to watch them subbed, which would be fine if I didn’t get restless when we are 4 or 5 episodes in on a series binge watch & need to do something other than sit there & watch tv. I have that weird thing where I can watch tv, listen to music or carry on a conversation while crocheting but trying to read subtitles, figure out what’s going on in the animation & crochet at the same time is just to much for me. Hence, yay that we’re watching this one dubbed! I will say that watching anime subbed is so much more satiisfying, the voice casting is usually much better (SevenDeadly Sins, Attack on Titan, Samurai X, etc, etc). I just can’t multitask with it.

And here’s the hand towl in the bathroom…

Cant’t even tell it’s uneven!

I was worried about the fiber not being absorbent enough (it feels so rough) plus the half-double crochet design with the small fiber weight, but Ry just used the towel & said it was fine so I guess we’ll call that a win.

Next Up…

My plan is work on that ripple blanket next, but I also have two library books out that I need to read; I’m competing on holds with an unknown person for Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole series at said library. I saw the SDCC’s preview for The Snowman which they mentioned was based off a book so I was intrigued because the movie looks good, Unfortunately, The Snowman is the 7th book in the Harry Hole series & I didn’t want to jump right to it in case I was missing something. Doesn’t really appear that I am at the moment (I just started book 3 The Redbreast) but we’ll see.

Sending you off with a pic of Gurney during the end of the lost months of the temperature blanket:

He’s just such a happy kitty…

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]]>https://speargunjennaproject.wordpress.com/2017/08/15/one-down-three-to-go/feed/0speargunjennaWorks in Progresshttps://speargunjennaproject.wordpress.com/2017/08/14/works-in-progress/
https://speargunjennaproject.wordpress.com/2017/08/14/works-in-progress/#respondMon, 14 Aug 2017 03:47:10 +0000http://speargunjennaproject.wordpress.com/2017/08/14/works-in-progress/All right, here we go giving the tablet a shot. As I briefly mentioned yesterday (this morning?) I ended up splurging and bought myself a Samsung tablet yesterday. My hope is that by having something seperate from my phone for all my creative stuff (crocheting, writing, maybe blogging) I’ll be less distracted while I am trying to do these creative things than I am when I’m using my phone/have my phone near me during these times. I have a horrific tendency (and I’m sure I’m not the only one) to go on my phone for one quick thing then end up getting sucked into mindlessly scrolling through social media, feeding my digital hamsters & half-heartedly check on my Neko Atsume cats that have been neglected since I discovered the hamsters…when all I wanted to do is check out a pattern that I had saved on my phone. So for the tablet, other than the WordPress & Pinterest app, I do not and will not install all the other soul-sucking, time-wasting apps that are on my phone on to this tablet.

Ry being the amazing person he ordered me a keyboard for said tablet which I am now happily (if not a bit haphazardly) typing this away on now. It reminds me of the PDA my dad let me use when I was younger since he never used it from work, and it makes me nostaglically happy. The Microsoft Suite came installed on here too so I’m pretty freaking stoked right now.

But anywho….

Lofty Goals and Statuses

As I may or may not have mentioned in my last post, I have a few projects running on the sidelines beyond what I have going on at work & trying to make friends (really not so easy when you’re almost 30, have no plans for kids & don’t enjoy going out late to bars much anymore). I’ve set some lofty 2nd half of the year goals on Goodreads because even though I’m working more than I have moving here from NH, for some reason I just never seemed to have time for anything when we had moved to NH from FL in 2015. I also am trying to finish up most-if not all-of my ongoing crochet projects before starting anything new but with the best holiday of the year and Christmas looming that might not be happening.

Crochet Projects

So in terms of crochet projects, I have 4 active ones that I currently know I need to get done (technically 5, but the 5h one has been sitting around for so long I think I’m going to pull it out & do something different with the yarn).

The first of these four projects is that ripple baby blanket I had been posting about earlier this year. It had taken a sideseat to the other two baby blankets that I needed to make in the spring, but this one is itching me the most to finish right now…so of course it’s the one I keep putting off.

Numero Dos is a dish towel/hand towel. I’ve only been working on this since Tuesday or Wednesday when I had a migraine & told Ry to pick some yarn & I’d do something with it. He picked a multi-colored rayon/cotton blend he had bought me back in NH (Crystal Palace Waikiki 70% Rayon, 30% Cotton in Blue Greens; discontinued) & said he had bought it for a hand towel so here we are. I’m using the Secret Santa Washcloth pattern (linked from Ravelry but I’m actually using the version that was printed in Crochet Today magazine; also discontinued). The pattern is almost mind-numbingly easy & I’m really not excited about this project, but it’s great for using at a Stitch-n-Bitch, it’s using some of my stash yarn & since I’m so blah about it, this is the one I`m trying to finish the quickest.

The third is a sun-bathing pig that was a pattern printed in Simply Crochet last year. Not too sure where to find the official pattern link, so I apologize for the Pinterest link. I’ll post legit pictures of him & hopefully have found an online link to the pattern when I finish him. Either way, he’s a Christmas present for my mum that only has a head & a partial body right now with a November deadline so I need to get back to him.

Final crochet project is a Beachcomber Shawl (Ravelry link, but I’m using the Crochet Today print from 2010) that I`m making with Cascade’s Cherub DK (color 512) that Ry got me, again, when we were in NH. Although the pattern is for a shawl, I’m actually planning on using it for a cover at the end of our bed. It’s fun and pretty but again, pretty low on my list.

In Conclusion…

I have to turn in for the evening because adult job & all. Though it’ll be a bit hard to wind down after that John Oliver episode…

Cheers.

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]]>https://speargunjennaproject.wordpress.com/2017/08/14/works-in-progress/feed/0speargunjennaFinished!!!https://speargunjennaproject.wordpress.com/2017/08/13/finished/
https://speargunjennaproject.wordpress.com/2017/08/13/finished/#respondSun, 13 Aug 2017 05:02:30 +0000http://speargunjennaproject.wordpress.com/?p=416So I’ve been enjoying Austin so far, just been crazy busy <insert social commentary on how if it’s important you will make time>.

Obviously I’m super excited with the way it turned out, however I still haven’t gotten it fully packed into the box to ship up to the aunt in Michigan:

Just like I haven’t finished packing up the box to send to my in-laws that I was supposed to send in April:

I’m obviously on a roll here. Speaking of, I did make/finish some fingerless gloves for my father-in-law but not sure if I ever posted them (together with my step-mother-in-law’s beanie that I know I posted earlier):

In other news…

I found an actually amazing crochet/knit group the meets 1-3 times a week about 20 minutes from my house with all age ranges of people that talk about a variety of things!!! Unlike the group I went to in NH that I went to a few times that wouldn’t stop talking about retirement homes & their plans for death (I joke you not).

Anyways, this new group meets on Tuesdays at the library, on Thursdays at a café, and on some Saturdays (once a month at Ikea from 9-3 and then some special events). They have a yarn crawl in October that I’m *tentatively hopeful* I will be able to join & they have a Christmas party with a yarn-themed White Elephant & where they make hats for the café employees for letting us hang out all year. They also have some charity work that I will explain another day.

In addition to this, I made the plunge & bought a Samsung tablet today. It’s specifically devoted to crochet, writing & creative stuff with the only social media app I have installed being this one. I’m hoping this new tablet, in addition to the new crochet group, will help me get back into the habit of regularly crocheting & blogging. Here’s to hoping!

Guess I’m really bad at getting back into the habit of blogging. Anywho, been a whirlwind since I last posted. I had two weeks of nothing in the apartment until Ry came down with the furniture then headed back North for work. I then spent the last week & May & first week of June unpacking. My parents were here for a week (June 9-16) then work was crazy last week.

Mixed into all of that, I’ve been going to the Austin Farmer’s Market weekly, went to a 10 hour rock festival that was outside in 104° weather with little shade (bands were amazing though; can’t beat rock concert therapy), and went river tubing down the San Marcos which was nice & relaxing.

Crochet

I’ve spent the last two weekends trying to catch up on my overdue crochet projects. I finally finished Min’s munchkin’s blanket last weekend after 18 hours of crocheting:

By some miracle I managed to get it out before the baby came & the post office delivered it in two days even though it was supposed to be 5 business days so woo!

This weekend I was working on finishing my father-in-law’s birthday present (from April); fingerless gloves from baby alpaca yarn that matches the hat & gloves I made him when he helped us move to New Hampshire. They’re not quite done because I need Ry here to try them on (not sure if I need to add another row or not).

I also completely pulled out the beanie I made my step-mother-in-law because I realized it was shoddy work & redid that all last night. Not perfect but looks a lot better:

It matches a neckwarmer I made her last year before they went to Iceland (which she called a tube top when she received it). They’re on a cross-country national park trip right now so that’ll be sent when they get back.

To Do

I have some new projects I want to start but I’m trying to get some of my other projects finished first. Next one I’m going to try to dive back into is the temperature blanket because all that yarn just takes up so much room. I have another blanket I’ve been working on so I’ll probably do that next. Then it’s the Christmas present work. Never ends. But hey, I’m in a fun new place, my husband will finally moving down next week & my job is great so yay!

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]]>https://speargunjennaproject.wordpress.com/2017/06/25/catch-up/feed/0speargunjennaApologieshttps://speargunjennaproject.wordpress.com/2017/05/06/apologies/
https://speargunjennaproject.wordpress.com/2017/05/06/apologies/#respondSat, 06 May 2017 03:12:30 +0000http://speargunjennaproject.wordpress.com/2017/05/06/apologies/I’m so sorry I dropped off the planet it March. I know this blog didn’t have much of a focus other than me sharing random tidbits (or rants) as appropriate, with some yarn & kitty pictures.

We had a household upheaval in March in regards to Ry’s contracting job that sent us scrambling. Thankfully we were lucky (universe-blessed) that I applied for a “real job” mid-March & after a three week interview process into Mid-April, I got offered a job in Austin, Texas. I (obviously) accepted & this triggered a three-week chaos-riddled move across the country.

I am now happily installed in my new apartment in Austin & start my new job on Monday. The spoiled brats that are my kitties will be joining me on the 19th & Ry will be joining me after his contract finishes (some time between June & August).

What does that mean for this blog? Well I’m hoping now that things have *knock on wood* settled down a bit I can begin to blog regularly again (though maybe not every day) but with a clearer & more focused purpose/any purpose.

Temperature Blanket Update:

Like this blog, I’m so far behind…43 days behind to be exact. I’m not sure if after I catch up if I will even need more rows for it to be at the proper length (other than the border) so we will see. I will post pictures after I finish the March rows, & maybe again after the April 15th & 30th rows.

So anywho, please bear with me. I’m sorry I won’t have any cat pics for the next two weeks but…I should have some fun Austin pics.

It was supposed to rain today but I didn’t see any at work or at home when I got back & Ry said he didn’t see/feel any so…I’m not going to do a rain row today I guess.

Got hit with a migraine today; I thought it was weather, mum thought it was stress. Either way, my brain feels like a zombie is gnawing on it & my eye feels like it’s being carved out with a spork so…here’s the soup recipe I made for dinner tonight (Ry helped).

Mix together & drop by teaspoonfuls into hot soup. Boil until they float

I didn’t make ours with kluski tonight because I feel like death but included it in the recipe anyways. I usually make my soup with boneless chicken because I don’t like the extra step of de-boning, but when my mum makes it, she always makes it with the bone-in chicken.

Had another decent day off today, yay two weeks in a row! Haven’t been able to sleep in much past 8:30 lately so that’s a bummer except that it’s been good on my off day productivity. I was able to get the dishes taken care of, 2nd clean up of my kitchen & a general house vacuum in before Cheri came over.

Craft Day

Cheri & I decided a week or two ago that we were going to try to do a weekly craft day. We won’t be doing the same crafts, just more of a hangout while we’re doing our own crafts. Today I did my Sunday row for my temperature blanket & got a few rows of mum’s owl blanket it. The owl blanket is probably going to take me longer than predicted as thick yarn in general has a tendency to hurt my fingers when I crochet so I never work as fast the 2nd or 3rd day. I also made lunch for both of us.

Cheri’s working on her wedding dress; it’s going to be hand sewn & I’m thoroughly convinced she’s going to look like a faery princess in it. I can’t wait to see it finished & on her.

We also caught up on general life things; it’s nice to hang out & talk about politics, movies & social issues face-to-face with someone. Though I fear sounding emo, I’m glad I found such an awesome friend up here, especially since it’s so hard to meet people & make friends at our age. She’s definitely a life & sanity saver. I think next week we’re going to meet up at her place as I feel bad she always has to drive up here.

Was 4 days behind on the temperature blanket this week. I didn’t really have much to talk about so I wasn’t posting; figured there was no point in just rambling. It definitely made the catch up on the temperature rows a lot harder by not having the blog posts as reference so…I guess I’ll go back to posting everyday.

Look, it rained yesterday so I got to do a pretty yarn row!!!

Maybaby Blanket

IT’S FINISHED!!!

I was originally going to use Bernat Li’l Tots yarn for the border but then I remembered I had an odd ball of a glossy green yarn so I decided to just keep crocheting the body of the blanket until I ran out of Li’l Tots. Then I switched to the green…

I ADORE how this came out, & I’m so happy I decided to do the green border. It gave the blanket such a nice accent (& it was so lucky the green was such a good match!).

I’m not sure what the brand on the green yarn was, I’ve had it in my stash for about 4 years now. Glad I finally got to use it. I ended up doing 2 rows on the border instead of the 1 row in the pattern, but the pattern assumes you’re using the same yarn for the full project. The double row just evens the blanket out better.

I hope the family likes it as much as I do!

Owl Blanket

And now that the Maybaby Blanket is complete I can finally start on my mum’s blanket. We’ll see how it goes!

Everyone at work has been sick for the past week, with varying severity levels of the cold & the flu. Seems like I’ve finally got some variation of the cold; my left side of my nose has been clogged for a few days & was bad enough f9r me to finally take a Sudafed this morning to get through work.

Along that line, I probably should’ve slept in today while I had the chance…

Lazy Man Tri Status

…but I really wanted to try to finish my biking for the tri. Thankfully, I did finish so my stats as of today are:

Swimmimg: 2.4 miles out of 2.4 miles completed

Transition 1: Completed

Biking: 112 miles out of 112 miles completed

Transition 2: Completed

Running: 9 miles out of 26.2 miles completed

Plan is to run tomorrow, Friday, twice Saturday & next Tuesday, which is 15 miles. Just need to squeeze in another 2.2 miles before the 28th somewhere then I’ll be done!!!

Also need to find someplace to read my book now that the biking is over…